Boss is listening to the BeeGee’s on his computer. Could certainly be worse.
I have unfortunately not been able to blog much lately because Boss has been nearly everpresent. We work in a small office that Boss calls “the fishbowl,” which is an apt description since we do not have any walls, partitions, or dividers between the offices. Anybody’s business is everybody’s business. So although we should (in theory) by able to communicate with each other perfectly fine while seated at our respective desks, Boss seems unwilling to entertain this concept. Anytime I ask him a question, he feels it necessary to get up from his chair and walk over to my desk in order to answer my question or respond to my comment. Once he responds, he normally pauses for a few seconds, remains in place, and then returns to his desk. At least he’s getting exercise.
Boss complains if people take too many breaks or take long lunches. He almost always brings his (often smelly) food into the office to eat it while he’s working, and apparently thinks other should do the same. I don’t mind eating at my desk as long as Boss leaves me alone while I’m eating, which doesn’t always happen. He must have a radar that alerts him whenever I break out my food, because he seems to seize that moment to come peer over me in order to explain the next “project” or “task” that he has for me. There’s nothing more delightful in this world than having Boss lean over me while I eat lunch. Anyway, back to breaks. Since I am sure he’s complaining about me anytime I leave the office for a break, I try to seize brief moments of down time whenever possible. Some of the best times for this are when Boss approaches my desk to talk to me. The reason for this is that Boss thinks I am only listening if I am giving him my undivided attention. Multi-tasking is certainly a plus, but never when he is talking. I have come to learn that he would rather I stop all work completely and sit listening to him, than listen and work in order to be more productive. That’s fine. It’s a nice way not to do any work.
Now, about “projects” and “tasks.” Those are Bossian for “stuff to do.” I haven’t yet been able to tell what, if any, difference there is between his use of the words “project” and “task.” It seems all the same to me, and probably is to him as well. He does tend to use the words in different sorts of sentences, however. Usually it is, “I have a project for you! Ok?” and “Would you like a task to do?” My mental reply is, “Well, that depends. Is this something that you as the Boss should be doing but have put off for 2+ years because you hate doing it, or is this something that is actually within my job description that makes a genuine contribution to the day-to-day functions of the company?” My verbal reply is, “Sure.” Projects and tasks can be anything as simple as typing a letter (is that really worthy of being deemed a “project”??), to sorting through dust-covered files of now-irrelevant invoices from the mid to late 90′s, to working up overdue federal paperwork that no one except those with extremely thorough knowledge of the workings of our industry should even be attempting. I usually turn down the latter assignments, err…tasks, but I understand why he balks at completing those. What really gets me is the rhetorical nature of his questions, or at least how they should be rhetorical. “Would you like a task?” You’re paying me to do stuff for you, how optional is it, really? I’m lucky if I’m able to convince him that he’s seriously the only person who can/should be doing this “task.”
That’s all for today. Next entry I’ll tell you about Boss’s toothbrush.
